Hi all 2nd home owners in Spain.

I want to visit my property and stay for several months.

How do you get insurance to fly from the UK to Spain.

All the companies want a return date.

I just want to be covered from home to home while travelling, not the months in between.

If you have any company names, please let me know

Longstay travel insurance

"The term Longstay travel literally refers to travellers who choose a longer than average stay abroad. They could choose to travel to several destinations in one trip or spend a long time exploring everything one destination has to offer. Whatever the itinerary, Longstay travellers usually return home full of amazing memories and once in a lifetime experiences" - Google longstay and take your pick

They want to charge £500 plus for the length of stay. I just want flights out and return.

What insurance do you have whilst you are in Spain?

EHIC 

I hope you are not being serious about only having an EHIC as INSURANCE cover. An EHIC only covers EMERGENCY MEDICAL treatment and not the on-going medical treatment that you might need once you have had your initial emergency treatment. It does not cover the cost of repatriation should you need it. It does not cover loss of goods, travel delay, loss of documents etc. etc.

The reason as to why the insurance companies charge the amount they do is because of their vast experience of paying claims they reckon this is the amount that they need to pay claims for this risk amongst people who stay abroad for the length of time you will be staying.

Another 'problem' might be that your time in Spain will be more than 6 months in a year and thereby you automatically become a (tax) resident in Spain. If you are a resident you are not entitled to an EHIC as it is only for UK residents and not for people who spend more than 6 months abroad especially if under pension age.

You have not stated your age nor your length of stay in Spain. As you say there are insurance companies that will cover 'long stay' trips. A premium of £500 for say 6 months is less that £3 per day which for the cover is reasonable!  In other words it is either a pint of beer or a couple of coffees a day. Not much for the 'peace of mind' that this cover will give you.

Thanks Steone, you've covered what I suspected. 

Senorita,  I use Staysure multi trip, but as you have found, the conditions are that you have a return booked when you depart. I pay extra but still only have maximum 100 days away.

Your quote of £500 does seem a lot, do you have pre-existing medical conditions?  I'm not wanting to be nosy, but if you don't give accurate information, you won't get accurate answers.

And please take Steone's advice.

Thank you for your input. The £550 quote is for a 2 month stay for a 76yr old with declared medical  conditions.

So a few visits a year make it very expensive.  It is the peace of mind that is giving me concern and why i am asking for suggestions.

I have found an EHIC Plus policy at £157 which doesnt cover existing medical conditions. Weighing up the pros and cons.

Well if you haven't already, try Staysure for a quote. I don't believe they offer 100 days upgrade on multi trip policies for your age group, and long stay policies tend to be for more than 3months, so it would seem you will be restricted to single trip policies. They are supposed to specialise in pre-existing conditions.

The £550 quote is for a 2 month stay for a 76 yr old with declared medical  conditions.

As a 76 yr old myself, that may seem reasonable, depending on the declared medical conditions. 

 A couple of years ago I paid considerably more than that for a 3 month trip to Malaysia, with declared medical conditions.

@steone "An EHIC only covers EMERGENCY MEDICAL treatment and not the on-going medical treatment that you might need once you have had your initial emergency treatment."

Are you sure of this? I understood an EHIC put me on the same footing as a local for the duration of any stay in the EU (which could be up to six months). So, if I had a stroke or heart attack, I would expect to get the same follow up treatment as a local. Your post implies they say "right mate, you're stabilised, back to the UK chop chop as you're getting no more out of us". Whereas in fact you are entitled to stick around and get any required treatment for as long as you want, providing you don't stay long enough to become a resident, etc. The EHIC is most certainly not restricted to emergency medical treatment.

Thank you Blue Eyes. Got a quote of £685 basic from Staysure.  So still in a dilemma.

Thank you GuyT.  That puts my mind at rest, which is what I understood  the EHIC to be.

All treatment provided on the EHIC is billed back to the UK

But,  See here for more info.

This an extract:-  

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx

Each country's health system is different and might not include all the things you would expect to get free of charge from the NHS. This means you may have to make a patient contribution to the cost of your care. For more information, see our county-by-country guide.

In an emergency, you can dial the European emergency number 112 from any telephone or mobile phone.

Since July 1 2014 you can no longer claim refunds for patient contributions (co-payments) in the UK.

Not covered

The EHIC is not an alternative to travel insurance. It will not cover any private medical healthcare or costs, such as mountain rescue in ski resorts, being flown back to the UK, or lost or stolen property. This makes it important to have both an EHIC and a valid private travel insurance policy. Some insurers now insist you hold an EHIC, and many will waive the excess if you have one.

The EHIC will not cover your medical expenses if you are going abroad specifically to have treatment (including giving birth). Read more about planned treatment abroad.

You may not be able to use the card in some parts of the EEA as state-provided healthcare may not be available.

Covered

The card provides you with the right to access state-provided healthcare on temporary stays at a reduced cost or, in many cases, for free. This includes treatment of a chronic or pre-existing medical condition that becomes necessary during your visit.

It includes routine maternity care (not only because of illness or an accident), as long as you're not going abroad to give birth. However, if the birth happens unexpectedly, the EHIC will cover the cost of all medical treatment for mother and baby that is linked to the birth.

The EHIC covers the provision of oxygen and kidney dialysis, although you will have to arrange and pre-book these treatments before you go on holiday. You can ask your GP or hospital for advice, but make sure you are not booked with a private healthcare provider, as these are not covered by the EHIC.

The card also covers routine medical care for people with pre-existing conditions that need monitoring.

The EHIC card is emergency cover only 

There are exceptions for head and heart

Easiest way to explain is you had to see a doctor and the doctor thought you need to see a specialist at the hospital further tests etc the EHIC would not cover you 

You would need to return home for this

Also I think if you broke a leg or arm it would be set but if you needed specialist physio care once bone us mended you would have to return home

If in doubt go to uk government website full details on there 

Another example of what the EHIC will and will not cover is for example the dreaded "C" word. If you were unfortunately diagnosed with cancer you could have an op. in Spain but you would not be covered for the chemo. You would need to get back to the U.K. and might need specialist flights etc. This is not covered.

If you look at the back of the EHICard it states:- "Make sure you have valid travel insurance". Surely this is enough warning to somehow get travel insurance.

I was abroad (Scotland) recently and was taken into hospital for 12 days. Whilst I did not have to pay for my treatment we did have extra hotel bills, taxi fares to and from the hospital, new flights. This cost was well into 4 figures (thousand). Also the insurance company I was with paid me an amount for each day I was in hospital to cover "incidentals". I can not understand why anyone would travel without insurance, even in their country of residence., especially as you are over 70 with existing medical conditions.

Steone, 

An old mate suffered a fatal heart attack whilst on holiday with his wife on Gran Canaria last month, he was 73, his wife is 70, can you imagine how much it cost to repartiate his body to the UK?

They were insured by the way.

I know it is a very personal thing but there is no way I would want my body sent anywhere but to the cemetery or crematorium, which ever was the cheapest. If relatives wanted to take the ashes, weight about 4 lbs,  somewhere then they could be put in suitcase for free.

Also bodies are not always acceptable. too emaciated, obese etc. Also in UK, don't know about Spain, if a Doctor has not attended the person for I believe it is within one month of death, then they cannot issue a death certificate. Or if for another reason they will not issue the certificate, then a PM is required.    Also it certainly used to be that if a person died in hospital in UK then a PM was always required.  

When a PM has been `performed the hospital etc almost certainly would not accept it as a donation.

So a plan B is needed.

    Also it certainly used to be that if a person died in hospital in UK then a PM was always required. 

Maybe different hospitals have different rules, hard as it might be to believe, but I have had to pay twice for a death certificate signed by two hospital doctors when the person died in hospital under these two  doctors care, when I kicked up a stink about the double cost it was said because the body was to be cremated and couldn't be exhumed later if need be, no Post mortem was carried out.

Extract from :- 

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Post-mortem/Pages/Introduction.aspx

When post-mortems are carried out

A post-mortem examination will be carried out if it's been requested by:

    a coroner – because the cause of death is unknown, or following a sudden, violent or unexpected death

    a hospital doctor – to find out more about an illness or the cause of death, or to further medical research and understanding

The two different types of post-mortem are discussed below.

Coroner’s post-mortem examination

A coroner is a judicial officer responsible for investigating deaths in certain situations (see below). Coroners are usually lawyers or doctors with a minimum of five years' experience.

In most cases, a doctor or the police refer a death to the coroner. A death will be referred to the coroner if:

    it's unexpected, such as the sudden death of a baby (cot death)

    it's violent, unnatural or suspicious, such as a suicide or drug overdose

    it's the result of an accident or injury

    it occurred during or soon after a hospital procedure, such as surgery

    the cause of death is unknown

When I have attended PMs in cases of suspicious deaths, the OIC of such an enquiry always attend PMs, thus I have attended many.  In erach case I was always aware of  the number of bodies there,  for  PMs, which had died in hospitals.

But as Baz pointed out, I see now it is not a must,  but from  my experience it is a very common occurrence that when a person dies in hospital there is a PM.

But my point was that after a PM the body will probably be rejected for donation, for the simple reason there is not that there is not much,  if any,  left to examine.